Letters

@~Unless letters are marked 'not for publication', I'll assume
@~that any interesting adventure-related bits can be put in this
@~section. If you specifically want something published, please
@~mark it as such.

@~This issue, contributor of the year thanks, AGT/LQ
@~incompatibility, World of Xeen, SynTax contents, playtesters
@~wanted and Mongoose brings us up to date.
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@~I have heard from all the contributors who won prizes last issue
@~and all of them were very pleased with their figures and free
@~issues. Here is a letter received from the Contributor of the
@~Year 1993/94 followed by one from the third prize winner.

From James Judge, East Peckham

Just a little letter to say thank you for the figurine and a
year's free subscription to SynTax. I've thoroughly enjoyed
writing for SynTax over the past year and hope to continue - maybe
winning again, we never know.  The figurine is very nice, sitting
in the lounge at the moment, reflecting the morning sun and giving
me a chance to show it off to the odd visitor. It is of a wizard
standing over a stone plinth with a crystal set in the top and
bottom - very nice, complements the small 1/2" figurine I bought a
few years ago - they are both very happy sharing the stand
together.

I would refrain from gloating, but BMK was just sooooo sure that
he'd beat me. Let me just have a couple of little 'hahahahaha's at
his cost - BEAT YA, SUCKER!!!!

Well done to everyone else who received a place, you've made the
magazine a varied and interesting thing to read every two months.

Well, I hope to be back on top in the next couple of issues, even
with the flying start that Neil has got on me and we never know -
James Jillians may get a prize next year (ay, Jim?).

Thanks again Sue, and I hope you continue the good work editing
SynTax for a long while yet - without you there wouldn't be a
magazine, well done.

@~Aww, thanks, J! Well done to you all again. SynTax will
@~continue, as I've said before, as long as people want it,
@~changing if necessary to reflect changes in computers. I love
@~doing the magazine and the five years since starting it have
@~just flown.
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Brian Burke, Nottingham

Dear Sue - Just a short note to say thanks very much for my Dragon
statue who is now scaring last year's Wizard to bits. I guess this
means that I'll be trying to add to my collection next year. My
congratulations to James Judge and the Bitmap Kid for some amusing
contributions which have expanded the content of SynTax somewhat.

@~Yes, you'd never think JJ and BMK were friends, would you?!
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From Norman Allan, Ware

A useless piece of information. Games written under the AGT
program system are incompatible with the print enhancer program
'LQ'. Useless, because I suppose there are few punters like myself
left who run nine pin DMPs and so are likely to be interested in
print enhancement. LQ, by the by, is a memory resident program.
I found this out the hard way. I had been working on the database
for some hours, until I found myself in the mistake making mode.
Thinking to occupy myself in some manner where the mistake making
would be less painful, I tried to boot Oklib. A runtime error! To
cut a long story short, I cleared Oklib from the drive, opened a
new sub-directory and re-loaded the files. Result? A runtime
error! A dark and dingy light began to dawn. I tried a couple of
the other AGT games I have on disk and got the same runtime error.
I then cleared LQ from memory, and all was sweetness and light!

@~I am sure there are a LOT of people still using 9 pin printers.
@~I still use my old Brother printer from time to time.  I haven't
@~ever tried LQ though. TSRs are funny things; they can cause some
@~unexpected effects when you try to run other programs.  So it's
@~useful info to have - thanks for letting us know.
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From David Stocks, Edinburgh

After the comments about World of Xeen, I am thinking of getting
that, if I can get it on CD-ROM. Space is a real problem with PC
games and I have to keep loading and unloading (after moving the
save games to floppy).

@~Space? Tell me about it! However large your hard disk, there
@~never seems to be enough space. That's why I prefer to get CD-ROM
@~versions of games now (apart from the bonuses of speech and
@~other goodies). It's also why it annoys the hell out of me when
@~you have to completely install a CD-ROM game onto the hard disk
@~before you can play it! But, I digress ... World of Xeen on
@~CD-ROM - you're in for a real treat. Xeen is one of the best
@~games I've ever played and the CD-ROM version should be a great
@~experience.  One firm advertising it is The Media Bank on 081
@~951 3355. They list it at œ35. Have fun and let us know what you
@~think of it if you get it.
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From Simon Avery, Chudleigh

Thanks for the latest SynTax, some good stuff in there, but I do
have some comments on the issue. Namely, the non-adventuring stuff
that seems to be appearing. Stuff like "Films", "Football Man
Sims", "Bookshelf" and the "Star Trek Profiles". Even BMK's Jaguar
section is a bit out of place in an adventuring magazine, for I
doubt there will be many adventures available for it. I realise
that the subjects must appeal to some of the readers or they
wouldn't have sent them in, but are they to do with computer
adventuring?

The features section is my favourite part of SynTax, it's the bit
I generally go to first, but I realised that half of the subjects
in this issue didn't interest me at all. I'm not having a moan at
you, Sue, on the contrary, I feel you do a wonderful job. But as a
reader of what I consider a magazine for adventures and
adventurers, there are a lot of articles on things totally
unconnected. Films - Leave 'em to Barry Norman; Football Man Sims
- Leave 'em to the glossy arcade mags; Bookshelf - Leave it to
dedicated literary magazines; Adventures - Leave 'em to SynTax!

The Star Trek Profiles are ok, to my point of view, due to the way
they've influenced sci-fi adventures. But still I didn't read much
of them.

Future stuff? Well, I would like to see more reviews of adventure
authors (Now that I've been done, I can say this without anyone
thinking I'm forwarding myself!). Bob Adams, Grue, Graham Cluley
and others. Maybe an occasional column on BBS MUGs, if there are
enough SynTaxites who play them.

Also I think that perhaps a questionnaire is maybe due, to see
what the readers like in SynTax, and what they don't.  Either as a
self-printing ASCII file or an enclosed sheet.


I realise you are limited to what the readers send in, but if you
have enough contributions to spare, I think perhaps a little bit
of 'editorial selection' could be in order?  Hope you don't mind
me putting in my suggestions. I'm speaking as a reader here, and
perhaps even one whose tastes don't match that of the majority of
other readers.

@~Whew, lots of points to answer there and I'm glad you raised
@~them. It's the only way I can find out what people want from the
@~magazine. So, a few general points first.

@~Originally, SynTax only had one special feature per issue.  As
@~the contributions have grown, I've been able to expand the
@~section.  SynTax has a maximum of 5 sections of 17 files per
@~issue. I can't change that without all three versions being
@~reprogrammed. One of those is reviews; one is features. I can't
@~fit in more than 17 reviews an issue without linking them, as in
@~cases when I get more than one review for a game and the AGT
@~section. The AGT section is the one that rankles with me as my
@~neat mind likes the readers to be able to tell from the index
@~exactly which games are reviewed in an issue. But there are so
@~many AGT games out now that I had to link several in order that
@~they didn't take over.

@~So, even if I had 50 reviews, I wouldn't put them into the
@~Features section. I don't know what I WOULD do then, but I
@~wouldn't slide some into another section. So, the Features
@~section is for articles, and non-adventure reviews such as the
@~footie sims and flight sims which CAN be moved sideways.

@~I think it improves SynTax to cover what I look on as related
@~topics to adventuring. I know that a lot of the readers, like
@~me, enjoy fantasy and SF books and films.  We've got a lot of
@~people hooked on Quantum Leap who hadn't watched it before
@~reading the enthusiastic write-ups in SynTax.

@~I believe films and books on fantasy/SF topics have, like Star
@~Trek which you mentioned, influenced many current adventures.
@~These articles don't take up any space that could be used by

@~'true' adventure game topics, but they enhance the overall look
@~and feel of the magazine.

@~I can also add an odd serious feature - ramdisks, viruses,
@~piracy etc. Again, some people will be interested, some not,
@~just as the ST readers won't be especially interested in PC
@~reviews and some PC owners won't want to read about CD-ROM
@~titles if they haven't got a drive. I have four readers who ONLY
@~have 5.25" drives. One doesn't have a hard disk. How can I
@~please everyone? The answer is, as we all know, I can't. But by
@~covering a wide range, I can increase everyone's enjoyment of
@~the mag - I hope!

@~As for a questionnaire, I did one some years ago and don't see
@~the need for anything that official at the moment.  However, if
@~anyone writing in or ringing me before next issue would like to
@~comment on any of the points raised here, I would be very
@~interested and I could give a round-up of your views next issue.
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From Martyn Westwood, Interactive Technology, PO Box 146,
Sheffield, S13 7TY

I'm writing to you in the hope that through SynTax you can help me
find the playtesters I urgently need for two projects I'm
currently working on. They are both on Amiga, but perhaps your
disk magazine is now available in both Amiga and ST formats?

One is a text-based adventure, with a flexible, point-and-click
environment that also allows conventional text input. The other is
a game creator which produces single player, MUG style games. This
is based on a simple point-and-click editor in which no internal
language or programming is needed.

Potential playtesters should write to me giving details of their
computer set-up.

@~If anyone can help Martyn, please contact him.
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From Mongoose, London

Please forgive the long absence but I have just changed jobs, and
the hours are killing me. If anyone needs any help please leave a
message with the Troll that answers my phone, and I will get back
to you as soon as possible, I don't finish work till 10pm now so
say if you want to be called that night, or the following morning.

Now to business. To Jenny, no address, or phone no. Draw a line
from f to p then examine map then erase line from v to m, erase
line from p to f, draw a line from m to p, go SE, get scroll then,
oh well, your turn.  To other adventurers this is part of a old
game by -------, fill in the blanks yourselves, called Enchanter,
the games by this company seem to have been re-released on CD now.
Even though there are practically no graphics or sounds, I think
Infocom games still rank very highly in adventure playing and
would recommend this CD to you all.

CDs: At the moment it seems that every CD has its own requirements
to run, and whatever config. you use you must change it. Also some
games play so slowly (Journeyman is the worst so far) that I load
them once, and then play Frisbee with it. SO PLEASE SOFTWARE
COMPANIES, EITHER PRODUCE DECENT WORKABLE CDS OR STAY WITH
DISCS, TA.

James, {you know who} have you retired from games, or have you got
so good that my help is no longer required?

Merc, by the time you read this may all your problems be solved.
Qemm is the best memory manager you can get so far. (To
Quarterdeck I hope the check is in the post.)

That's all for now, will write a proper letter next time. By the
way if you are writing to SynTax, please remember poor Old Sue,
and try to add some humour to her day, that is besides her
husband, ha ha, oh well, that's upset someone else.
MONGOOSE.

@~I won't let Alan read this bit of the magazine! :)
                              - o -